Dear children, dear parents, dear guests, dear colleagues, dear school beginners,

Welcome to this year’s enrolment ceremony at IMS. My name is Alexander Delport. I am the headmaster of this wonderful MS school.
Last week during the preparation week, I happened to overhear a conversation between two mums. One of them suddenly said: ‘We’re starting school after the summer holidays.’ That’s strange, I thought to myself. ‘It’s not mums who start school at our school, only children.’ Perhaps the mum was thinking about her son or daughter at that moment. ‘We’re starting school after the summer holidays.’ Or were her thoughts going in a different direction?
One thing is certain here. From today, you are now schoolchildren, dear girls and boys. Finally! From today, we can address you as ‘Dear students’. From today, a new and important phase of life begins: school.

But for you, dear parents, the daily routine will also change a little from Monday. Especially for those of you who are starting school for the first time. We are starting school. From Monday and until the end of our school days, you will now have to make sure that
• your child gets up on time
• your child is on time at 8:45 a.m. in the free work
• that he or she goes to bed on time
• that he or she eats healthily
• Very important: that you practice reading with your child every day, especially in the first year of school.

I’m sure this is what the mother thought about when she said, ‘We’ll start school after the summer holidays.’
Dear children and guests, we will sing a song in a moment, the chorus of which says:
We want to get up, approach each other, learn from each other, and interact with each other. Get up, approach each other and not walk away when we don’t understand something.

I wish you all the same for the next four years at our school.
Get up happily every morning, make new friends, learn together, even if you argue, make up and look for solutions.
Yes, dear schoolchildren, I have talked a lot now. It is high time for a change. So I wish you first-year students a good start to a successful first year at school. May your school days be as colourful and varied as your school cones, which will be handed over to you in a moment. Enjoy this day. Enjoy it, dear parents, with your children!
ALL THE BEST AND A BIG THANK YOU!